eTwinning Podcasting project: sharing at our fingertips! (English version)

In these times of crisis, hopelessness, and exhaustion, it has been all the more important to come together digitally. Students and teachers from Italy, France, and Germany have joined forces in the international eTwinning project “Podcasting project. Content creation at our fingertips”.

This project is manifold which mainly focuses on helping our youth to build digital competence, both as users and content creators. Moreover,  the teachers wanted the students to share, to be hopeful again, to learn more about this pandemic, and to show them that they were not alone in this unique situation. While being mostly in lockdown, the students were still able to broaden their horizons by learning collaboratively in a wider European community. 

Working collaboratively allowed them to virtually travel through Europe and lean on each other as well as learn from each other.

The project includes four schools from three countries: Italy, Germany, and France.

The schools are :

●       Lycée "Raoul Dautry", Limoges, France,

●       Liceo "Vito Fazio Allmayer", Alcamo, Italy,

●       Hebbelschule Kiel, Germany, and

●       Liceo “Bruno Touschek”, Grottaferrata, Italy.

 

The project contains core elements of successful Project Based learning:

1. Establishing real-world connections,
2. Anchoring the project within the school curricula,
3. Structuring collaboration for students’ success,
4. Facilitating learning in a student-driven environment,
5. Embedding assessment throughout the project, and
6. Publicly presenting the final products.

 

In order to understand the importance of fact-checking and critical thinking, the project started with the topic “disinformation in the media”, in which the students learned how to debunk fake news.

One of the main concerns of the teachers was the promotion of a safer and better Internet, used critically and respectfully. Copyright issues were tackled. Special attention was given to awareness of disinformation, scam, and online safety.

In short, the students experienced collaboration at its best for a whole school year and were able to escape the fatigue of the long-term pandemic!

 

They

-          started out by presenting themselves and playing games to get to know each other,

-          presented their school and city creatively,

-          created a logo for the TwinSpace (their safe environment to exchange on the eTwinning platform)

-          studied the essential topic of Fake News in a period when disinformation could be deadly (particularly those about Coronavirus). They had to learn how to debunk fake news to become more informed citizens.

-          studied COVID-19 and online education and collaboratively interviewed ten experts from these two fields. Then they made podcasts from these interviews and created their own podcasting channels on Soundcloud and Spreaker.

They worked in groups of 10 including students from the 3 countries and enjoyed collaborating and helping each other preparing an ambitious project, thus unlocking their potential in a holistic experience. What is more, the students owned their studies.

 

This project allowed all students to learn and improve together. They worked on a real-life project and shared it with the world.

It allowed them to improve their 21st-century skills, in particular

-          Creativity (artwork, logos…),

-          Collaboration,

-          Critical thinking,

-          Communication,

-          Information literacy,

-          Media literacy,

-          Technology literacy, and

-          Flexibility.

They also learned more about The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), more specifically about

-          Good Health and Well-being, and

-          Quality Education.

 

The eTwinning Podcast Café

The “eTwinning Podcast Café” was conceived as a virtual environment where both teachers and students could meet in a cozy and comfortable atmosphere. Students knew that they would not be evaluated but only had to relax and sip their favorite beverage, they could chat about the latest podcast they had published or one of their favorites.

Playing and singing

What the students enjoyed the most:

“Interacting with foreign students.” (all students)

“I liked exchanging with Italian and German students to broaden my culture” (Clara)

“I enjoyed the project which allowed me to discover a lot about Italy and Germany as well as about the main topics we studied.” (Cléo)

“I loved the expert calls and studying with other students.” (Eloi, Martin)

“We can speak about our differences, our preferences, with students from Italy and Germany.” (Mané)

“It really has been amazing getting to know so many people from all over Europe and the whole process behind a podcast. It also has been very interesting to interview the experts who clarified  our doubts about the COVID-19 vaccination and remote learning.” (Silvia C.)

“I enjoyed asking questions to experts and learning about COVID-19 from someone who actually fights this pandemic in real life.” (Tigran)

“We have also managed to develop new technological knowledge and common interests. A project that deserves to be done in every class.” ( Giulia G.)

“I particularly enjoyed the collaboration and team spirit!” (Camille)

“I improved my English thanks to the exchanges with the group and the fun tasks.” (Maxime)

“Above all, the most important thing was the opportunity to learn and practice English. It’s a project that has given us so much, and I’m so glad I had an opportunity like this.” (Maria Lucia)

“I also learned how to manage a podcast and the various processes to create it. It was an  immersive experience that I will always take with me” (Claudia A.)

“Thanks to this project I have understood how to debunk fake news, but I have also improved my vocabulary, and I have discovered news that I believed to be true but that in reality was just a hoax” (Vanessa B.)

“It has been a different way to comfort each other during this hard period” (Miriam B.)

“We also learned important new information about the pandemic we are experiencing and about vaccines, improving our language skills and at the same time expanding our knowledge. It was truly a well organized and executed project” (Nadia C.)

“I know that the knowledge I gained will be very useful to me especially now that we are still in the critical period of the pandemic and in the future to avoid believing in fake news” (Giorgia F.)

“It was, hands down, the best podcasting experience I have ever had” (Girolamo S.)

“Thanks to this project I have found out how podcasts are actually made. I began to hear many of them and I discovered a very interesting world. We can't wait to publish our podcast. We are very satisfied with the result we have achieved, it is very rewarding to have been able to do a good job as a team.”(Sofia R.)

 

Marie-Hélène Fasquel, Lycée Raoul Dautry, France.

Maria Gismondi, Liceo Bruno Touschek, Italy.

Mariella Sorrentino, Liceo “Vito Fazio Allmayer”, Alcamo-Italy.

Sabine, Hebbelschule Kiel, Germany.